Neuer took part in the session that was open to the media for 15 minutes. Neuer injured his right shoulder in the German Cup final on May 17 and has not trained with the team since then. He has been preparing on his own and Koepke said the team had preferred not to take any risks.
He missed both warm-up matches against Cameroon and Armenia. We did not want to take any unnecessary risks, we thought it was better for him to start training with the team a day later than to risk aggravating the injury.
Adler injured his shoulder before the tournament and Neuer became the No. Tailormade to finally fill — and even outgrow — the gloves of Oliver Kahn, Neuer's move to Bavaria was a logical but wildly unpopular one. While the Schalke fans he had once stood amongst felt betrayed, a vocal group of Bayern Ultras could not forgive Neuer for celebrating a Schalke win over their team in Munich in April in the style of Kahn: waving a corner flag above his head!
It can be over tomorrow, and everyone strives to work for the best employer. No, the Barcelona midfielder was not talking about the swoop for his former Schalke team-mate Neuer, but the move for Toni Tapalovic below, left. Never heard of him? Most Bayern fans hadn't either, but the former Schalke and Mainz reserve team goalkeeper has played a central role in Neuer's ascent to the summit of his art. Since their days at Gelsenkirchen, Tapalovic — six years Neuer's senior — has helped his protege, eventually seeing the pupil now become the master.
When Manuel tells me he has to improve in certain areas and he can only do that with Tapalovic, I think it's really wonderful. That made him Germany's third-youngest-ever World Cup 'keeper after Illgner, who was 23 when he started the triumphant tournament, and Wolfgang Fahrian, the a raw year-old at the finals. Injury to Rene Adler and Robert Enke's tragic suicide catapulted Neuer to centre stage a little earlier than expected, but he has since proven himself more than worthy.
A global superstar recognised the world over, Neuer has not let fame nor money go to his head. Still, I wouldn't count him out. Competition in Germany is so intense at this position, that it is totally possible we will see Adler back with the national team—not to mention in CL-competition next year.
The 20 year old, 1,89m tall, junior keeper, who joined 1. But when Sippel fell ill with a virus in March, Kevin Trapp stepped up—and so convincingly filled the position that head coach Marco Kurz had to stick with him. Trapp's spectacular saves and dominance in one-on-one situations kept struggling Kaiserslautern in games that had had an evil tendency to slip away as a nervous and decimated defensive back-line allowed decisive goals out of standard situations in the waning minutes.
All that changed with Kevin Trapp, whose centimeter height advantage translated into much better control of his opponent's corners and free-kicks. By the end of the season, the traditional club from Rhineland-Palatia—home to Germany-legends Fritz and Ottmar Walter —had come clear of the relegation zone and finished a staggering seventh in the final table. Which leaves Kaiserslautern in a similar situation as local rival FSV Mainz 05—to try and figure out which first-class keeper will start after the summer.
Oliver Baumann has always been considered a great goaltending talent. Accordingly, he has played on different German youth teams, but seeing the intense competition at this position within the "Class of '88," the year-old, 1,87m tall, keeper always seemed to fall under the radar ahead of important international tournaments. Even at SC Freiburg , where he has been under contract since , Oliver Baumann played second-fiddle to starting Frenchman, Simon Pouplin , with only sporadic starts to show for all of his undeniable talent.
But the season finally saw his coming of age for the Breisgau club under head coach Robin Dutt. Baumann, like most keepers in the Bundesliga, has great reflexes on the line, but he impressed many fans with his cool-headed, unexcited mastery of the penalty box—a feature that has led to comparisons with the young Edwin van der Sar.
That might be a bit far-fetched, but expect Oliver Baumann to shine brighter still, as he gains the confidence and routine that come with more playing time. Virtually unknown when he came to Hannover from Manchester United , Ron-Robert Zieler was expected to gather a little Bundesliga experience backing up Florian Fromlowitz , the regular starter who joined the club from 1.
Fromlowitz—another outstanding goalie from Gerri Ehrmann's successful Kaiserslautern school—seemed assured of his starting role after his basically solid performances at the end of the difficult season, which saw Hannover fighting to stay in Germany's elite league.
Many observers were almost shocked when new head coach Mirko Slomka unceremoniously gave the job to Ron-Robert Zieler during the season. Through his intense competitiveness and leadership qualities, he has impressed the 'fans ever since. He was prominently responsible for Hannover's well-organized defensive play, which helped the club from Lower Saxony finish an amazing and totally unexpected fourth place—and which also qualified the eternal lower-table side for next year's Euro-League competition.
In the meantime, Fromlowitz has quietly departed to ambitious second division club MSV Duisburg , a sign that Ron-Robert Zieler is now firmly installed between the posts. I am quite confident that he is at the start of a magnificent career—one which might just lead to a little head-scratching on behalf of his former club, Manchester United. Is it possible that Edwin van der Sar's successor was on the roster all along, but for some reason went undetected? Time will tell. Werder Bremen had one of the worst seasons it has experienced in recent history.
Instead of charging into the upper echelons of the Bundesliga, saw the venerable Hanseatic side dropping to the abyss of possible demotion after key players went down with enduring injuries. So it may come as a surprise that I have their veteran goalie, Tim Wiese —29 years old and standing at 1,93m—still in sixth place on this ranking. But the major reason for this decision lies in the question of what would have happened to Werder, if Tim Wiese had not been there.
Often ridiculed in Germany for his choice of pink jerseys, well-greased hair-do and impeccable sun-studio tans, "Flying Tim" was almost the only defensive resistance the Hanseats could muster, virtually destroying the self-confidence of accomplished goal predators like Theofanis Gekas , Stefan Kiessling or Mario Gomez in the process.
The flamboyant German international might actually have had one of his better seasons since joining Werder from, yes, 1. The Polish born year-old has had ups and downs in his career.
After a stellar season, he transferred to VfB Stuttgart among much media-hype. But he somehow couldn't live up to the great expectations and eventually saw his position taken away, first by substitute Sven Ulreich, before he was then later definitely benched in favor of returning Jens Lehmann. There is reason enough to honor this reliable goal-keeper for his leadership to the young 1. The year-old Tom Starke had an impressive season for Hoffenheim, anchoring the young club in a season that saw them lose key players Carlos Edouardo and Luis Gustavo , in addition to the head coach responsible for the small club's rise to Bundesliga prominence, Ralf Rangnick.
At 1,94m and 80 kg, Starke is a very athletic keeper with good reach who brings the necessary experience to his job. Looking for playing time, he moved to MSV Duisburg in , quickly becoming the most impressive goalkeeper in the second division. This caught Hoffenheim's attention, who were looking for a strong keeper after the controversial tenure of former German international Timo Hildebrand.
Roman Weidenfeller, 30 years old and 1,90m tall, might be the most consistently under-appreciated Bundesliga keeper of the last decade. Evolving at 1. FC Kaiserslautern from to , he eventually found his way to Borussia Dortmund , where he has been a reliable anchor for the past eight years.
Unfortunately for him, Borussia struggled most of the time during this period, which explains why his solid play always tended to go unnoticed with the then-mediocre team.
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